Wedding DIY Unity Symbol Painting

Unity Symbol Painting

DIY Project for Wedding Ceremony

Looking for a unity symbol to do during your wedding ceremony that is unique? You've come to the right place!

I scoured the internet leading up to my own wedding to find something unique for our ceremony that didn't involve a candle. Search for "unity symbol" and you'll find lots of Pinterest fails. My artistic side was attracted to the idea of a painting.

After 3 trial runs, I finally got it right! Here is the final product after our wedding that is displayed proudly in our dining room.

The Inspiration

There are plenty of options to create your unity symbol painting silhouette. My inspiration came from our engagement session with Stout Photography. This beautiful silhouette photo in Jacksonville with our two dogs was the perfect highlight.

You can turn pretty much any photo into a silhouette using Photoshop. Choose something that is meaningful for your unity symbol.

What you'll need:

Black (or white) 8x10 canvas

Printable vinyl (I used Cricut Printable Vinyl)

Exact-o knife

Mod Podge (matte)

Small paint brush

2" paint brush

Two paint trays

Two paint colors of your choice

How to Create Your Unity Symbol Painting

Choose your silhouette image. You can use a photograph, your family initial or any image that is meaningful to you and your fiance.

Using photoshop, remove the background of your photo or image, and change the image color to solid black so that only a silhouette is shown. Make sure the sizing is appropriate for the size of your canvas. This may take a couple test prints to get it right.

Print silhouette onto the printable vinyl. I used Cricut Printable Vinyl that comes in 8.5x11 sheets and is easy to use in any printer.

Using an exact-o knife to carefully cut around the silhouette.

Peel off the backing to the vinyl stencil and carefully place it onto your canvas. The black printed stencil will be invisible on a black canvas. I chose a black canvas to give the shadow effect once the painting is completed. You can use a white canvas if you would prefer.

Using your small paint brush, paint Mod Podge around the edges of your stencil and onto the canvas. This step is critical. It will seal the edges to keep paint from bleeding behind the stencil.

Let the Mod Podge cure completely before painting over it.

Choose your colors for the painting. I chose purple and coral to represent the colors of the sunset.

Completed stencil backing on printable vinyl

On Your Wedding Day

Prior to your wedding ceremony, set your canvas on an easel with two paint trays and two paint brushes. I suggest using a tablecloth that you aren't concerned about getting a little paint on.

During the ceremony, each of you will paint onto the canvas with your colors. Don't worry about being perfect. The Mod Podge will keep the paint from bleeding. Paint over the entire stencil and canvas. Blend your colors together. Be careful not to get any on your dress or tux!

After the ceremony, delegate a member of your wedding party to carefully remove the stencil from the canvas. Don't wait too long to remove the stencil. The paint should be starting to dry, but not completely set.

Voila! You have a beautiful painting that you can cherish as your unity symbol forever.

My favorite part about this project was hearing the "oooo's" and "ahhhh's" from our wedding guests as the stencil was removed revealing what we had created.